Elder Collin DeWitt: WEEK TWENTY TWO

Hello!

So Sasha didn't accept the commitment to be baptized.

Bummer.

But, he has come to church every Sunday since the first time he came, and has now been taught all three lessons. He says that he isn't prepared to "jump into" something that he isn't fully committed to yet. He is still praying and studying everything that we give him, so he has great intent, and a lot more faith than he thinks. We all had cake after the lesson last night which was delicious. Brother Irigoyen rocks.

Keenan passed the sacrament on Sunday! We're so proud of him, and I can totally see him serving a mission sometime in the future. Three or four years! We're going to start teaching the new member lessons this week.

We're working with a man named Stefan who used to be an active member, until he had a nervous breakdown after being fired from his job. He was released from the hospital, but struggles with extremely severe depression. We went with Brother Dean (Coventry ward mission leader) to go visit him one night and to see what we could do to help. Stefan has been struggling to speak, and has delayed responses to questions, and sometimes is unable to respond at all. We talked to him about having faith and the healing power of the Atonement. Brother Dean asked him if he wanted a priesthood blessing, and he said yes. Stefan asked me to give him the blessing. I didn't know what I was going to say, or how to help him. As I gave the blessing, I simply felt Christ's love for him. I promised that he would be healed through time and with patience.

A few days later, Stefan called us. It was so amazing to hear his voice steadier, and the heavy emotion lifted from his voice. He still had questions and concerns about his faith, but he is so much better than before. Not healed yet, but through faith and patience, I know he can be.

Brother Wenzel moved. We're really sad, but he's in a better place. Literally. Their house is beautiful.

We also helped Brother Nagtalon from Coventry ward put a roof on his garage. I felt pretty useless, especially since Elder Lee was a roofer for two years before he came out, and Brother Nagtalon works in construction. The Nagtalons are from the Philippines and make the best Filipino food in the whole world, so we were happy to go help and have lunch.

We've been tracting every day since Thursday, and we're planning on doing it every day this next week. It's funny to see people's reactions to meeting us, which usually ranges from amusement to mild anger. It's fun for some people to have real live Mormon missionaries at their door. I always ask, "have you heard of Mormons before?" and always get the response, "ohhh yes." We've given out two Book of Mormons and lots of pass-a-long cards, and hopefully will find some new investigators soon.

Love you all! Talk to you next week!

Elder DeWitt